What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
by flashpenguin
Summary: On the last day of the year and the day before their wedding and Derek gets Pen to make a resolution before the ball drops. Continuation of the "A Baby Changes Everything Series".


**A continuation of the "A Baby Changes Everything Series". Derek and Pen have one last night left in the old year together before they have to take their vows.**

**Dedicated to rjwritergirl for kicking my butt and "ordering" me to post this!**

**Song Prompt: "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" by The Carpenters**

**What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?**

Derek rolled over and reached for the warm, soft body he had just finished loving. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close and dropped a kiss on her cheek.

"Are you alive?" he whispered.

"Barely," Pen replied. "You?"

"If my heartbeat doesn't return to normal in the next five minutes, call 9-1-1."

Pen chuckled. "Are you saying that you're growing old?"

"No way! I just think I over did it." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"I know you like to rock my world, but you didn't have to try and do it all in one night," she chided and snuggled closer to him. He felt so good and smelled even better.

"Baby Girl," he protested, "didn't you know that this is the last time I can make love to you until next year?"

Pen glanced at the clock. "Derek, the new year is in twenty five minutes; I think you can wait."

He groaned dramatically. "I could die from withdrawal by then."

"Hmmm…" She moved to sit up. "I could always find a way to resuscitate you."

"Twenty five minutes is a long time," he answered and trailed kisses across her cheek, down her neck to between her breasts. "Resuscitation may not work."

Pen snorted softly. "There is more than one way to bring a man back to life, lover." She got up from the bed and grabbed her kimono. Slipping it on, she belted it.

"Where are you going?" Derek asked and sat up in bed.

"The new year is coming along in twenty minutes and I want to celebrate it. Turn on the TV so we can see the ball drop," she requested and left the room.

Reaching for the remote, Derek turned on the TV and flicked the channel until he found the station he wanted. The soft patter of bare feet on the floor made him look up.

Crossing the room, Pen carried a dark bottle and two glass flutes. Sitting down on the bed, she handed Derek the bottle. "Open this please."

"Champagne?" he asked as he eyed the bottle then her. "Are you sure?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's non-alcoholic, Sweetness. It's going to be a while before I can drink the real thing, but I have to have my toast for the New Year." Holding out the glasses, she watched them being filled. Handing Derek one, she clinked her glass to his.

"What is your New Year's resolution?" he asked.

"I don't make resolutions," she stated. He raised an eyebrow. "Honestly! They are a waste of time. I never keep them, and if I remember what I resolved to do, it's usually too late to start over. I decided years ago to stop making them."

"Baby Girl, everyone makes resolutions; it's tradition."

"Traditions," she scoffed and twirled the amber gold liquid around in her glass. "My parents used to make resolutions all the time." A flicker of sadness crossed her face.

"That explains it."

She looked at the man she loved in surprise. "What does?"

"Why you don't like to make resolutions. I understand. I stopped making them after my dad was murdered. But as I got older, I found I needed that rock to hold on to. Even if I don't keep the promise I made to myself, it is a good stepping stone to finally achieving success."

"Well, my chocolate god of hunkiness, what was your resolution last year?" she challenged jokingly.

"The same as it was the year before, the year before that, and the year before that one: to make you mine."

"Oh Derek," she choked as tears rushed down her cheeks and clogged her throat.

He set the glass on the nightstand. He brushed the tears away with his thumb. "Don't cry, Pen."

"I can't help it; it's those damn hormones." She wiped the back of her hand across her cheek. "Looks like you kept your resolution."

"It took a while," he agreed. In the background the crowd cheered loudly as the announcer updated the time in Times Square.

"Well, you got me now." She leaned in and kissed him.

"Not quite, but by tomorrow, I will."

"I still don't know how in the world Ambassador Prentiss arranged it for all of us to get married tomorrow," Pen mused. "And she got Strauss to agree to everything."

Derek shrugged. "She is a politician; she knows how to work things in her favour. Besides, you were helping her with arrangements and catering, I'm surprised you weren't clued in."

"Between scheduling the banquet hall and the flowers…and then helping JJ with the twins and Emily get her dress…I wasn't thinking about anything else."

"My brilliant goddess of all knowledge was kept out of the loop for this one," he teased.

"I knew something was up when I was asked to go with JJ to pick out a dress, but I never imagined they were planning for _all_ of us to get married tomorrow."

"You don't want to?" Derek asked carefully.

Pen shook her head. "No…I mean it's kind of neat that we're always doing everything together; now this is going to bind us permanently as a family."

"Which is the one thing you've always wanted." Derek cupped her cheek gently, relishing the feel of her soft skin on his palm.

Pen nodded and bit her lip. "Yes. Babies, godchildren, sisters, and brothers…all in one fell swoop… It's better than I could have ever imagined."

"That wasn't a resolution?"

"No. Just a wish I made years ago on a falling star."

The cheering got louder. The camera panned to the large clock in the center of the square. The time read: 11:57.

"Make a resolution, Baby Girl, before time runs out," Derek urged.

"I can't."

"It's tradition."

Pen thought it over as the announcer shouted that less than three minutes remained. "I resolve to love you more than the day before, and to be the best wife and mother ever."

Derek reached for his glass and tapped hers before sipping. "That was good, but you left out 'lover'."

Taking a long drink, Pen looked at him, her eyes dancing with mischief. "I don't have to resolve because I already am."

"Aren't we bragging?"

She set her glass down. "It's not bragging when it's the truth."

"Where did you ever hear that?" Derek pulled her into his arms.

"You."

"I've corrupted you."

"I know." She kissed him and pushed him back against the pillows.

"I have my resolution ready," he breathed as his hands worked to free her of the kimono.

"What's that?" she urged as the crowd shouted from the TV.

"When I wake up in your arms tomorrow morning, it's going to be like that for the rest of our lives."

"That's a great resolution." She kissed him long and deep as the count down rang in the New Year. Reaching for the remote, Derek turned off the TV.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"It's three minutes into the New Year; three minutes I've gone without making love to you," he remarked.

"Is my chocolate delight going through withdrawals already?"

Derek closed his eyes. "I think I may need that resuscitation you promised me."

She leaned over him, her body brushing against his. Moving her lips gently over his skin, she moved lower.

"Wouldn't you rather watch the fireworks?" she asked.

"I'd rather make our own," he gasped.

And they did.


End file.
